Rolling awning or screen housing and support



March 13, 1934. NELSQN 1,950,808

ROLLING AWNING 0R SCREEN HOUSING AND SUPPORT Original Filed March. 10, 1930 I ml I "MM" 1' f fl '5' N515 H lfi is rq r AT RNEY.

Patented Mar. 13, 1934 UETE STAT ROLLKNG AWNING UR SCREEN HDUSING AND SUPFQRT Nels H. Nelson, Des Moines, Zowa 1931, Serial No. 533,230

2 Claims.

This invention relates to housin s and supporting members therewith for rolling awnings, rolling screens and the like, and is a division of my co-pending application for United States Letters Patent on a Rolling awning, filed March 10, 1930 and given Serial No. 434,661, Patent Number 1,804,798, granted May 12, 1931.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a housing for rolling awnings, screens and the like that is of strong construction and does not develop a torque when the awning, screen or like is being lowered from the same or being raised for storage into the same.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rolling awning housing that is easily and quickly assembled without the employment of a skilled workman.

A still furt er object of my invention is to provide a rolling awning housing and supporting roller therein that promotes the easy functioning of the awning and requires a minimum amount of physical eifort to operate the awning or like.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an awning housing that may be easily detached from the supporting wall to which it is secured for operation.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a rolling awning or screen housing and support that is economical in manufacture, refined in appearance and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front sectional view of my complete invention ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a side view of one of the housing ends.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the awning housing supporting and inclosing caps.

Fig. 4 is a side view of one of the U-shaped keys for retaining the awning housing in the supporting caps.

Fig. 5 is an end view of my complete invention mounted for operation on a vertical supporting surface such as a window frame, house wall or like.

A great number of window screens and awnings now being sold to the general public are of the rolling type, in thatthey are mounted on a roller inside a storage housing.

(Cl. Hit-44) These storage housings for receiving he awning or screen when it is not in use are usually of metal construction and as their lengths are similar to the widths of the openings to be inclosed by the awning or screen, their construction is naturally fragile and torque influences are experienced during the functioning of the screen or awning. I have overcome this disadvantage by providing a roll awning or screen housing of exceptional rigidity.

Referring to the drawing I have used the numeral 10 to designate a wall or like to which the invention is designed to be attached by any suitable means such as screws 11 or like. The numeral 12 designates the housing formed of sheet metal or like and approximately rectangular in cross section. The bottom and front walls are formed from the opposite side marginal portions of the sheet and do not quite abut at their edges, but are slightly apart to form a slot or mouth 13, which extends longitudinally of the housing at the lower forward corner thereof. The numeral 14 designates the two housing ends for closing the two open ends of the awning housing, respectively. These two housing ends are in the form of square cups and have th ir bottoms inserted in the housing and toward each other. The forward side wall portions are then bent outwardly and back upon themselves, with the. end portions of the housing in between, as shown in Fig. 1. The lower side wall of each of the end members has a cut-away portion 15. When the side walls of the end members which are on both sides of the housing are spot-welded, bolted, riveted or the like to the housing at points designated by the numeral 16. an awning housing or screen housing is formed that has great strength and cannot be distorted or torqued out of normal condition by the operation of the awning or screen.

This feature is especially advantageous when coil spring rolled awnings are used. By piercing the bottom of each of the end members near their centers and forcing the marginal edge laterally a bearing member 17 is created. Rotatably mounted in these two bearing members and extending beyond the same is the awning roller 13 in the form of a shaft. This shaft 18 may be prevented from lateral movement by the cotter-keys 19, extending through the two end portions of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 1. A flexible awning or screen member 20 is attached at one end to this shaft roller by any suitable means, such as tacks 21. The flexible member 20 is designed to extend through the slot 13 at times, as shown in Fig. 5. The attaching of the housing to a vertical supporting surface is accomplished by the two awning housing supporting and end inclosing caps 22 having their back walls secured to the supporting surface by screws, as shown in Fig. 5. These caps are designed to fit snugly the outside of the housing 12 and engage the housing near its respective ends. As they have no front walls, the awning housing may be easily and readily removed therefrom by moving outwardly from the supporting surface. To prevent the accidental removal of the housing from these caps I have provided eyes 23 on the upper and bottom wall of each of the caps and extending beyond the housing when the same is in the caps 22 and a key 24 formed of a piece of wire or light rod having its end portions bent at right angles and adapted to be inserted in the upper and lower eyes and extend across the front of the housing, as shown in the drawing. In order that these keys will not obstruct the mouth 13, I have cut away the inner end portions of each of the eyes 23, as shown in Fig. 3, thereby making it possible for the keys to assume a position to each side of the mouth 13 and in a position free from engagement with the member 20.

- These caps also inclose the open ends of the members 14. In order to facilitate the assembling of the awning housing manufacture, the portions of the cup members 14 that are bent back upon themselves extend, as shown in Fig. 1, beyond the bottom of the cups. By this arrangement these cup members are easily centered on the ends of the housing 12 and are guided thereby onto the end portions of the housing 12. If these bent portions of the cup members were flush with the bottoms of the cup members it would indeed be a difficult task to guide them onto the end portions of the housing. To make the shaft 18 rotate more easily and also to provide a more successful bearing member I have provided small disks 25 rotatably mounted on each of the cup members 14, having their peripheries overlapping the marginal edge of the bearing member 17, as shown in Fig. 2.

To prevent these keys from becoming accidentally detached the marginal edge of the front side of the housing at the slot portion may be bent outwardly and back upon itself, as shown in Fig. 5 to provide 2. lug 30. This lug or strip will prevent the keys from moving inwardly unless this side of the housing is depressed to allow the keys to slide over this bent portion or lug.

The numeral 26 designates a chain, cable or like having one end entering the housing 12 through a hole in its bottom and near one end. To accomplish this an opening 27 must also be provided in the supporting cap member 22, as shown in the drawing.

This opening 2'? registers with the cut-away portion 15 of the member 14. This chain is operatively secured to the shaft 18, at one end of the shaft and at a point between one of the cup memhere 14 and the supporting cap 22, adjacent thereto as shown in Fig. 1. By this arrangement if the chain is pulled downwardly after being wound onto the shaft 18, it will rotate the shaft and cause the awning 20 to roll into the housing and onto the shaft 18. To prevent the chain 26 from engaging and binding inside the housing, two spaced apart disk members 29 are rigidly secured to the shaft and at each side of the point where the chain 26 is secured to the spool portion of the shaft 18. To remove the housing proper from the members 22 it is merely necessary to remove the keys 24. If it is desired to remove the members'22 from the supporting surface 10, the screws 11 should be removed which as shown in Fig. 5, extend through the holes 28 in the back wall of the member 22.

The edges of the members 14 and 22 may be slightly rounded as shown in the drawing to aid in the assembly of the invention. The construction of the members 14 is especially desirable during this assembly, as thetapping these members on each end of the member 12 automatically sets the bearings in proper alignment and position and at the same time successfully squares up the complete housing. Although I have described my invention as particularly adapted to the housing of roll awnings, it may be successfully used for the holding of other elements such as screens, selo glass and the like and may be positioned for use over windows, doors and porch enclosures.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved rolling awning or screen housing and support, without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a rolling flexible element housing, the combination of an elongated rectangular housing having an open end and a longitudinal slot, and a square cup member extending a substantial distance into the open end of said housing and having its four side walls bent back upon themselves to engage the four outer sides of said housing; said cup member adapted to support a shaft inside said housing.

2. In combination with a rolling flexible element rectangular housing having a slot and an open end, a cup member designed to be inserted into the open end of said housing for supporting a shaft; said cup member having its wall portions bent back upon themselves for engaging the outer sides of said housing; said portions that are bent back upon themselves having their marginal edges terminating in a plane beyond the plane of the bottom of the cup member of which they are a part.

NELS H. NELSON. 

